


Inheritance

by ebonynote



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Constructive Criticism Welcome, My First AO3 Post, Not Beta Read, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24177058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonynote/pseuds/ebonynote
Summary: “And where do you think you’re going?” Damnit.Moving like I suddenly weighed a thousand pounds I faced Mr. Zaiza, playing with my fingers I said, “To take the Dominator exam?” with a masterfully (if I do say so myself) pathetic but hopeful lilt to my voice.His eyes softened a fraction.‘Ha, still got it.’ A quick glance told me the twins were caught between being incredulous and livid that I could still play Mr. Zaiza like a cheap kazoo while they were probably getting punished with no dessert for a week. I inwardly smirked, though, I did have an unfair advantage compared to them in the form of excellent chosen career choice plans and time to wrap him around my finger; Mr. Zaiza, even though he wasn’t one anymore, always went to see the new Dominators off on their first venture Outside to make sure they were prepared and even if he’d never say it, I knew he had a soft spot for me- because of mom, probably.He sighed, “Fine. I’ll see you this afternoon then.”I straightened my spine and ran out of there, waving without looking back and yelled, “Of course you will.”





	Inheritance

“Are we in trouble?” two children asked in sync, tangling their fists in each other’s hospital gowns. They made their blue doe eyes as big as they possibly could. Obviously, a practiced maneuver… but it definitely wasn’t working.  
“Take a guess.” Mr. Zaiza said, voice dry enough to make my throat itch.  
“No?” Their sugary sweet voices echoed each other in unison.  
“Take another guess” 

It made me want to laugh in spite of everything. They were so young. May and Damian. Twins. I couldn’t stay mad at them. Even though they decided to make a break for the Outside doors while I was supposed to be keeping an eye on them for the nurses. They reminded me of why I wanted to be a Dominator. Kids like May and Dami shouldn’t have to sneak past guards to get a glimpse of the Outside. They should get to see it and take it for granted every day. Waking up, stretching, and nearly unhinging their jaws as they yawn in sync with the background noise of bushy-tailed squirrels scurrying up scratched bark- nature’s squirrel-shaped footholds while the angelic nuisances that are birds sing in time with the whistle of leafed branches in the wind. Watching the sun’s rays highlight stray patches of over trimmed green grass as if showing off its next target of attention through half-crusted over eyes. The thought made something in my chest ache. 

Their puppy eyes wouldn’t matter much to a man like Mr. Zaiza though. Everyone thought him so...unapproachable. He seems like the personification of the saying ‘all work, no play’. His appearance didn't really do anything to convince otherwise either. Looming over the twins, his already intimidatingly tall stature seemed even more so. With sharp eyes, a firm set mouth, only his apathetic voice, which bordered on sounding too bored to care about what anyone was saying felt like it was the only part of him not trying to intimidate everyone into silence along with the rest of him. His scoldings could probably shame the UnderGods themselves; making them as docile as the twins currently looked. 

My mouth quirked upward at the satisfied glint in his eye- his message clearly being understood even if the twins shared glances and relaxed postures still screamed that they’d do it again in a second. Though Mr. Zaiza’s appearance was daunting, he didn’t have a bad bone in his body; there was no one that we all trusted more to keep us safe. No one that inspired everyone the way he did, me included. It was no wonder to anyone why he chose to become a Protector and ensure the safety of everyone Below after his and my mother’s squad’s accident on the Outside that left him with no choice but to step down from his Dominator position. I turned on my heel as inconspicuously as possible, hoping to leave the twins to Mr. Zaiza’s non-existent mercy and sneak past so I wouldn’t be scolded as well. 

“And where do you think you’re going?” Damnit.  
Moving like I suddenly weighed a thousand pounds I faced Mr. Zaiza, playing with my fingers I said, “To take the Dominator exam?” with a masterfully (if I do say so myself) pathetic but hopeful lilt to my voice. His eyes softened a fraction. 

‘Ha, still got it.’ A quick glance told me the twins were caught between being incredulous and livid that I could still play Mr. Zaiza like a cheap kazoo while they were probably getting punished with no dessert for a week. I inwardly smirked, though, I did have an unfair advantage compared to them in the form of excellent chosen career choice plans and time to wrap him around my finger; Mr. Zaiza, even though he wasn’t one anymore, always went to see the new Dominators off on their first venture Outside to make sure they were prepared and even if he’d never say it, I knew he had a soft spot for me- because of mom, probably.  
He sighed, “Fine. I’ll see you this afternoon then.”  
Perking up like a watered plant, I straightened my spine and ran out of there, waving without looking back and yelled, “Of course you will.”

***********

I’m practically vibrating as I jog through the hospital wing. This is it. Today is the day. Presentation Day. I’ve been waiting days-months-years, no, my entire life for this day! My racing heart beats in time with my every step. As soon as my feet cross the end of the white-colored walls, and into the familiar gray, I take off as fast as my legs will carry me. The ground blurring beneath my feet, stale air whipping at my hair, making pieces fall into my face. I felt almost alive. 

What will it be like to do this on the Outside with grass and trees and a blue sky that never ends? I shook my head, trying to stop the stray question in its tracks before my brain could run with it, as my thoughts were immediately at war with each other. I knew we were all living underground because it was too dangerous to be on the surface anymore… but still. 

My steps sped up as memories flew behind my eyes- remembering the few stolen moments I shared with my mother alone. I’d heard stories about the Outside all my life from my mother, who used to be a Dominator with Mr. Zaiza, as the squad’s lead scientist. The soft smile I’d had on before, widening as I opened my mouth for more air the faster I ran. After an accident Outside, their entire squad retired, and mom has been sharing the fruits of her research in secretive whispers with me from her hospital bed ever since. 

An older Protector rushed past me, wild eyes never straying from the Hospital Ward entrance. She yelled for a gurney and Mr. Zaiza. “Code Orange! It’s an orange! Clear the area!!” Her tone was borderline hysterical. 

My eyes creased, pinching the skin near my nose as I recalled code orange protocol. No one allowed near, orange means a Dominator almost came into contact with poisonous gas which is capable of causing insane hallucinations and genetically inheritable- the reason why no one who comes into contact with it can come back underground. Abandoning my slower pace, I worked my lungs and leg muscles as fast as I could, full-on sprinting away so the Protectors could set up a perimeter and block anyone else from coming near. I worried the skin of my bottom lip, sending a quick prayer to the UnderGods to look after the poor Dominator as my heart cried for them. Mother was code oranged too. I didn’t wish it on anyone. It just goes to show that being a Dominator is dangerous but I’m going to be just like mom and research the Outside until we find a way to go back to living up there anyways. I have to. It’s our right to see. ‘Our stolen inheritance’ as my mother always told me. 

“But first, I gotta pass and become a Dominator” my rasping voice echoed throughout the hall much to the protest of my aching lungs. 

***********

It hurts. Hurts. HURTS. My eyes are cold and unseeing but the rest of me is hot with humiliation and ready to explode. I can feel my heart being cut into a million pieces. I can see it being stepped on by all of my ex-classmates, now seniors, as they clutch their papers with pride in their eyes while I hide off to the side, hyperventilating behind a pillar. 

‘How did this happen? Why did I fail? What did I miss?’ The thoughts spiraled in my head, each one progressively worse than the last. I know everything about the sciences of the surface. It’s been my fucking bedtime story since before I could even understand the words. I can’t even take the physical exam now. Not without papers. You only get one chance to be a Dominator and I lost it. This is what it feels like to have a lifelong dream die. I stayed there for a long time, numb to everything else, probably with a stupid look on my face, facing the exam room just waiting. Waiting for a classmate to jump out and say it was all a joke. Waiting for an exam proctor to rush out, apologize for making me wait, and hand me the key to my future. Waiting for my brain to get the memo and accept that I was done. Over with. Left behind. In the wrong career path. Never going to see the Outside in person. My spine curled inwards and my arms wrapped around each other- fingers digging into the exposed flesh of my upper arms as the base of my back leaned hard against the cold and stiff concrete pillar that I’d taken refuge behind. My mind was numb to it all. The faint rustling of the bottom hem of my synthetic shirt riding up my back as my legs bent under the weight of my failure and sent me to the floor were the last that I heard while the accusing footsteps of everyone who were rushing to their next exam or ceremonies cleared out the hall.

A muted tune brought me back to my senses. Like a code alert if I’d had cotton in my ears while listening. Or maybe a pillow over my head? What was making that noise? “-ll Dominators please report to the Outside doors for your first assignment,” a robotic voice monotoned.  
“Oh,” my voiced cracked.  
The Dominators’ first voyage Outside. The one that I should have been a part of. My heart sank in my chest as my painfully numb legs rose, my hand near slapping the unforgiving concrete to catch myself as my shaking ankles almost gave out. A thousand pins and needles stab into my legs for every millimeter I force them to move. Pain. And lots of it. My bright red palm smarts and my near-white fingertips ache after having spent so long digging crescent shaped marks into the abused red skin of my arms. This is agony. No. It’s not; I just went through agony in failing to achieve the only goal I’d ever given myself. What was I going to do now? “Oh UnderGods, what do I tell mother,” I whimpered. I forced myself to move my leaden legs. One foot in front of the other. Back to the hospital wing to tell my mother that I failed her. That every lesson she drilled into me during the rare moments we were alone together was a waste of time. That the legacy she left for me was wasted in my hands. Bright, white walls stared accusingly at me. I robotically continued forward, withering under the fluorescent lights like a sun-shy plant directly under the sun’s powerful rays- a sight I’d never see. 

Familiar footsteps echoed off the walls- coming closer to me. I looked up from the floor to see the twins and the Protector from earlier. She went from looking my in the eye with a furrowed brow to a scrunched forehead and avoiding my gaze-pitying me. Of course it was so obvious. 

“Hey!!! Dami, it’s a Dominator,” May exclaimed, pointing at me in an over exaggerating manner. Both the Protector and I looked anywhere but at the kids or each other. Dami inspected me like one might inspect a meal made by your worst enemy. My face grew hot under his meticulous inspection.

“Actually,” I coughed to clear my throat and the oppressing atmosphere, “I didn’t. I don’t think I can be a Dominator anymore.”  
“What!? Why not? Your mom teaches us about the Outside all the time, shouldn’t you be an expert already?” May’s hands curled into fists as she straightened her spine to attention. Ready to defend me. 

The Protectors head whipped to May so fast it cracked in the otherwise silent hallway. With wide eyes she said, “You mean the scientist who was on Mr. Zaiza’s squad? She teaches you things?”

Annoyed but with raised eyebrows we all nodded. Her face went white.  
Ignoring her in the only way a child could, she said “just go ask Mr. Zaiza to let you go on the voyage. Then we can get more stories.” 

A breath of air escaped me in a huff, “May I can’t just ask him. He’ll never say yes. I didn’t pass the exam.” How could I explain this simply without hurting myself in the process?  
Dami had the perfect solution, “then just sneak out. You’re big and nobody can catch you.” Like treason was the most obvious answer, but to him and May it might as well have been with how often they get caught doing it. 

My hand covered my mouth, thumb and index finger squeezing my lips; could I really do something like that?

“W-wait a minute. You can’t just-I have to tell Zaiza that She’s the on—“ the Protector got out before May and Dami exchanged a glance, gave me matching smiles that made them look like butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths and look off, forcing the Protector to either follow them or restrain me. 

She, tripping over air, stumbled her way after the dashing twins while yelling to me, “You can’t! Your mother is the one that was Code R— Ah, wait!” the three disappeared, leaving me alone with their suggestions. I want it so bad. Maybe I could. 

I have to know; I have to see it at least once. Reinvigorated, I rolled back my shoulders, raised my chin and shot off toward the Outside doors. 

***********

I tried not to bite the inside of my cheek or fidget in front of Mr. Zaiza but, well, it wasn’t like I had the childish lack of self-preservation and puppy dog eyes that May and Dami were notorious for. No matter how much I wanted to curl into myself and slink away, I had to meet him head-on, and not let my eyes roam past his, at least until he gave in. 

“You realize how reckless this is, don’t you? You didn’t make it past the written exam. You don’t have what it takes to be a Dominator” he scolded apathetically, but I wasn’t fooled. His eyes are not so much warmer but glinting with something that he definitely didn’t show the twins this morning. 

“I just have to see it once” I pleaded. “I’ll do anything to see it just once- even become a civilian for the rest of my life.” 

He glanced away first, pursing his lips before his eyes hesitantly settled back on me. Sighing, “Once. This is your only chance.”

I barely let the words fall from his mouth before I was reaching for him with my arms wide open. He indulged me, not even commenting when my eyes were glossy, coming back up.  
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll never ask again, I swear.” My heart is beating faster than even a hummingbirds’ right now, adrenaline and utter elation practically lifting my feet from the ground. 

“But-” his warning tone pulled me headfirst out of my euphoria. “I have one rule. You are not to remove your mask under any circumstances. Those exposed to the air on the Outside may never come back underground,” An unfamiliar note to his voice. I almost have called it guilt- but why do I care? I’m going to see Outside!!!! Mr. Zaiza’s rhythmically tapping shoe made me remember he was looking for an answer. 

Grinning from ear to ear, my hand touched to my forehead before flicking out toward him and to my side in the most precise and heartfelt salute I was capable of. There was nothing that could ruin this for me. 

***********

Mimicking the tense and stiff postures of the newly recruited Dominators, I ran my fingers over my mask every few minutes, shifting my stance while inspecting each and every stitch of my uniform and boots in an attempt to not be found out for posing as a Dominator. I looked toward Mr. Zaiza who had just finished a speech if the awed, near reverent silence was any indication. The doors to the tunnels between the Outside and underground opened and we all shuffled forward, excited murmuring and chatters filling the room. Mr. Zaiza looked toward me and grimaced like he wanted to take back his permission. I crinkled my my eyes and smiled at him as best I could around the breathing mask that looked reminiscent of scuba gear that I saw in a book once. He actually smiled! A genuine quirk of the lips. 

Someone ran up to him and he dropped the smile to turn to them. Oh, it was the Protector. She was practically covered in sweat and gesturing wildly while talking with him, but I couldn’t hear it from so far away. Whatever it was, it must have been bad; Mr. Zaiza went white as a sheet. He whirled toward me and met my eyes for a moment before I walked out with the others while the giant doors started to shut behind us. Mr. Zaiza ran for the doors shouting something I could barely hear over the heavy creaking of the doors. 

“-ait! Don’t! -mother… wrong…Code Redded”. None of it made sense. The other Protectors stopped him before he could get too close to the doors- a good thing. If he’d gotten contaminated while not in protective gear, he’d never be able to return to the colony!

Like sardines in a can, the group shuffled forward toward THE doors, all tittering to each other- infected with nervous energy for what awaited us on the other side. Time slowed. The muted squeal of the rusted brown doors could have been an emergency siren for how loud it reverberated in my ears. My excitement, anxiousness, elation, and fear reached fever pitch as the light from the sun - the ACTUAL sun- blinded me while I made to take my first steps into the Outside. 

It was all wrong. There was no green, living grass. No thick trees with rough brown trunks and branches full of different shaped leaves. The sky wasn’t there. Or if it was, it certainly wasn’t the color of the twins’ eyes. This was not like the stories that mom told me about the Outside. 

“This can’t be it,” I breathed, a hysterical note to my voice. I broke away from the group, my heart beating so loudly in my ears I didn’t even hear my own footsteps. Coming to a stop and dropping to kneel in front of a thing, I- with all the gentleness I could muster stretched out my arm. My gloved hands brushed over the wisps of what must have once been a bush and grasped over nothing as the ashy branches disintegrated under my touch and fell to the gray earth. I flinched away from the pile of ashes like I’d been burned- and in some way, I had been. The breath I wasn’t aware I was holding released in one shaky exhale.  
I wanted to rage- to cry and scream and shout till my voice left me completely. Looking at the other real Dominators, they didn’t seem shocked at all. What’s wrong with them? Don’t they know this is all wrong? Can’t they see? 

I straightened in a flash and ran to catch up to the group and ask what was happening, but my movement must have been too jerky because the mouthpiece to the mask shifted off my mouth just slightly. Barely enough to uncover the pink of my bottom lip, but enough to get the tiniest breath of Outside air. Not even enough to warrant an exhale but just enough that I saw the flash of green Green GREEN.  
Mr. Zaiza’s warning echoed through my head but it was too late. The buckles holding the horrible mask to my face released under the rushed, nimble, now gloveless -When did that happen? - hands with a satisfying snap. I pulled the mask from my face, and at a snail’s pace, set it down on top of the pile of what was previously ash and now blades of grass the same way one sets a loved one’s favorite flower on their final resting place. Distantly, I noted that there were Dominators yelling about something or other, but I was too preoccupied with the colors.  
It was just like mom said. It was real. 

There were two strange pops. It almost sounded like a slap, but much harsher. It brought me back to attention. My entire right shoulder and part of my torso had recoiled. Had I been shot? Peeling my eyes from the green grass and blue sky, my eyes caught sight of another eye-catching color. Bright red. 

“Oh.” Code Red. 

I came into contact with poison gas and broke Mr. Zaiza’s only rule. Now I can’t go back underground. But as long as I got to keep seeing the Outside, I strangely didn’t mind all that much. I watched the red trail down my suit like a raindrop on a leaf before plopping onto the vibrant green GREEN grass one drop at a time. The sharp smell forced my nose to crinkle a bit, but it was too mesmerizing to look away from the river of red pouring out of my own body. Though, my body must think differently if the losing battle to keep my eyes from drooping is any indication. Drip. Drip. Drip. The sharp metallic tang to the air was fading with every rhythmic drop. 

‘I wonder if I’ll be in trouble with Mr. Zaiza’ I thought before I collided with the GREEN grass covered ground.


End file.
